It's a sport for the players

.....yet a patient mumbling wait for a fight to break out for the fans. It's a typical beginning....boo the refs for the poor calls, cheer for the home team, and boo for the opponent. Each team warms up for the upcoming battle for the goal, one hoping for a come from behind victory, the other to maintain their lead. As the time begins, the crowd cheers and then settles down in their seats to enjoy their favorite $10.00 alcoholic beverage and maybe a $7.00 box of popcorn. What do they wait for? A brawl on the ice. Ice Hockey at its best.

The stadium is rather quiet as the sloshed audience attempts to maintain eye contact with the puck, but as soon as a glove hits the ice, it is ON. The audience jumps to their feet (hopefully not spilling a drop of that precious and expensive liquid) and cheer on the fists that fly and the ones that land painfully. The penalty...something we do for 2 year olds.."time out".

These guys on the ice are obviously trained athletes, skating that long and hard is HARD!! And have you ever tried to control a puck coming at you at X mph? No thank you. My absolute favorite part of the night, was the gentleman ( I use this term loosely) behind us who desperately wanted to be a coach for our team. He made sure they knew how many more seconds were available in the Power Play, and knew JUST when the player should shoot for the goal. For my first time viewing an Ice Hockey game, he did seem very knowledgeable and was very deft at reading the score board out for everyone around us. But I don't think the team would have hired him. They would probably have to supply him with 10 beers before every game in order for him to perform at his best and loudest. Anyway, lucky us, we were there for his audition!

All in all, we did have a great time. Personally I loved when they smashed each other against the plastic (it's not glass anymore folks) and of course when a Ref would get in the way(that's hilarious...they wear NO pads!!) Oh, and the other ROCKIN event, is when the home team made a goal...it scared the CRAP out of me the first time. The stadium is blasted with a fog horn type sound that literally shakes the stadium. I could feel the vibration of the sound in my feet through my shoes! There is no disclaimer on my ticket for this deafening sound, only to be wary of flying pucks. I guess I should be grateful for the sound instead of the wayward puck.

As a first timer at a Hockey game, it was like any public venue, it took all kinds of characters to bring the whole experience together. My favorite was the group of pirates touring the stadium throwing out beads to the audience....oh and the free t-shirt my section won from 5/3 bank. (Anyone know where they are located?) GO SECTION 109!! I saw myself on the big screen!

And for my next adventure.....Gasparilla!!!! (sorry, you'll have to look that one up)

Finding the Time

Some of us are always trying to find the time to do all of the things we want to. It's probably all of us that are seeking this out, just others seem to do it flawlessly on the outside, but just like us...are totally stressed to the max on the inside!

Me, I'm trying to find the time to make sure the babies are played with enough, that my house is clean enough, that I have enough food in the house for dinner, can I get to the store before the kids have their naps....It's a constant flow of "enoughs" through my head that it's enough to take me to a shrink....

My current projects just seem to have added to my "enough" list. As I start up an internet business, my OCD is taking over. If I had my way, I'd be on the site all the time while I'm awake, searching for the best deals and obsessing over the look and care I have put into it. But I have to make sure that I don't spend too much time during the day on my computer. I obsess all day about it, then have the evening(family time) to get things done. But am I spending enough time with my older daughter and husband?

This "enough" thing can really be a bummer. Have I said enough?